Waiting list for elective surgery tops four million for first time since 2007

The number of patients on waiting lists for elective surgery at NHS hospitals in England has passed four million for the first time in 10 years, official figures show.1

Service leaders and experts said the figures showed that the NHS was at “full stretch” even in the summer months and urged the government to take act now to increase capacity.

The data, from NHS England, show that 3.83 million people were on the waiting list for non-urgent hospital treatment at the end of June 2017. But NHS England said the number was likely to be over four …